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August 22, 2016

Up to now, many supplemental devices have made their appearance in the straggle of adding Arca-Swiss compatibility to the collar feet of long telephoto lenses. We have seen simple rails with arca dovetail, evolving into Lens Plates with stop bars, further evolving into Lens Replacement Feet for better integration.
Some of these combined with longer rails and vertical brackets, came to stabilize longer super telephoto lenses forming Long Lens Support Brackets.

So here comes the innovation of the latest Hejnar Photo Lens Support dedicated to the AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR.

For the first time Hejnar Photo introduces a combination of a dedicated double dovetail lens plate with a modular Lens Support Bracket.
The new Hejnar Lens Support not only provides the desired Arca-Swiss compatibility but also offers support to the front elements of the long lens in one package.

The Long Lens Support

The Hejnar LLSP-N200-500-1 is actually a 6" lens support package with quick height adjustment of the Lens Bracket. That's quite an old concept, on which you may find many references on its benefits in the Relevant Articles section at the end of this article.
Nonetheless, it includes a 6" double dovetail rail dedicated to the AF NIKKOR lens foot, a lens support bracket, and one 1" inch clamp. The clamp is mounted to the rail front end with a single screw and the supporting bracket is installed inside the clamp for quick height adjustment.
Total weight of the package including hardware is 255 gr (9 oz).

Individual Package Components
As layed out with their top surface facing up, you may see the individual components of the Hejnar LLSP-N200-500-1 Lens Support. In short the package contains:

One MOD-1 2" lens support bracket

One Dedicated 6" rail

One F60b 1" Quick Release clamp

One 1/4"-20 - 1/2" long captive style screw for mounting the rail

One 1/4"-20 - 3/4" long flat head screw for mounting the clamp

Two Dowel pins

Two M3 safety stop screws attached to rail

Two Allen hex wrenches for the 1/4-20 and the M3 screws

The least known part is the new 6" rail for the NIKKOR super zoom, with anti-twist ridges on the back end near the mounting screw. A small inspection will show also the front 1/4"-20 tapped hole for the clamp and the two 5 mm dowel pin holes on its sides which act as the clamp anti-twist mechanism.

Hejnar Photo LLSP-N200-500-1 components top side facing up

The bottom side view of the components, reveals the deep carving which eliminates as much material as possible to the benefit of lightness. Further, two M3 safety stop screws exist at both ends of the rail.

Hejnar Photo LLSP-N200-500-1 components with their bottom side facing up.

The Lens Plate

Manufacturer Specification:

Model:

LLSP-N200-500-1

Length:

15.24 cm (6.0")

Width:

3.81 cm (1.5")

Weight:

118 gr (4.2 oz)

Tapped Holes:

1/4"-20 front

Safety Stop Screws:

2 x M3

Slots:

1 x Captive Style

Color:

Black hard coat anodized

Material:

C.N.C. machined 6061-T6 Aluminium

Made in :

USA

The LLSP-N200-500-1 rail design is fundamentally the same as all Hejnar lens plates which are CNC machined out of a solid Aluminium block with flat surfaces on top.
Somehow, it differs only in the way its anti-twist ridges are built. The rail fetures two of them on the sides of the mounting slot, instead of one at the back as usual.
Further, here the front part has a double dovetail which ends just before the rising of the side anti-twist ridges. The double dovetail section serves for the accommodation of a narrow clamp on top like a flash bracket or any other Arca compatible apparatus.

Mounting on the Lens
After the assembly of the Hejnar LLSP-N200-500-1 Lens Support, mounting it on the AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR is straight forward.
Just adjust fore-aft and tighten the lens plate on the collar foot using the 1/4"-20 captive screw . As mentioned in the beginning, all required screws and hex tools are provided.
After fixing the lens plate on the collar foot, the user needs only to raise the MOD-1 Lens Bracket so as its wheels touch the lens barrel and then tighten the F60b QR clamp.

Hejnar Photo LLSP-N200-500-1 assembly - fitting on lens foot

The Lens Support sits below the steady part of the lens barrel allowing for easy zooming as well as ample space below the lens for the addition of flash brackets or other accessories, since the lens plate provides a top dovetail for this purpose.

The Hejnar PHOTO Lens Support for AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR is a solution that offers an overall lower profile than other comparable Lens Support solutions, keeping the center of gravity low.
A feature that may be crucial for some users of Gimbal Heads - especially the side mounted ones without a cradle - since it will allow the lens to be mounted and balanced properly.